From a bottle that was known to not have been stored well. But this bottle did indeed survive, and it ended up showing like a pretty classic bottle of Dom with those developed old funky reductive notes. Fairly mushroomy and nutty, with a pronounced autolytic character too. A hint sweet and quite browned. Better than drinkable, but not to my taste. With a lot of air, a little bit of something resembling TCA started to emerge, but I wonder if this was more of those aged reductive notes than anything.
The more I have this, the more convinced I am that the 2007 is the better wine. While this is an amply good bottle of champagne, it doesn't quite have the electric excitement that the 2007 has; there isn't enough of the citric brightness and acidity here. In exchange, you get a little more of a darker complexion, with more nutty and mushroomy elements.
A little young in that you still get just a little bit of a white grape flavour here. The mousse is pretty vigorous and is just a slight bit coarse right now. Some tart citrus and orchard fruit; not too complex on the midpalate, but there's a pretty nice kick of chalky minerality on the finish.
Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River
In terms of the slight reduction here, there's something that reminds me of Roulot in this wine. It's a little tropical and shows a nice array of sweeter tropical fruits, but at the same time, there is the requisite acidity to correctly frame this wine. Every time I taste a Leeuwin chardonnay, I have to ask myself why I don't buy them. I really should be...
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
Overall, a little dilute in flavour, but this is a wine that speaks quite true to the village, with a slightly waxier, rounder texture. It's got good acidity and a nice dose of minerality too, but it's just that the flavour on the midpalate seems to be a bit dilute. Perhaps that's a function of the slightly weaker vintage? A decent bottle of chardonnay, but the value preposition is not entirely there.
It's not the Constance, but this is another in a long line of incredibly Huets from this vintage. The nose shows a little bit of earth and wooliness, but then you get to all the good things -- marmalade, brown sugar, peaches, in an fairly kaleidoscopic array. The palate is sweet and does have a slight syrupy/oily texture, but there's ample acidity to balance all that out. Very delicious, and only bettered by the Constance of the same vintage.
A few years ago, I liked these wines more; nowadays for my palate, they come off a little bit thin and lacking in breadth. This is fairly high acid and generally shows a little lean, with a slight bit of furry funk on the nose and palate. It's not the most approachable right now, with too much a spotlight on the acidity here.
#04-95, 7% abv. From half-bottle. This is a brilliant bottle of Haag and shows readily the hallmarks of this truly great vintage. Incredibly intense with its fruit and botrytis, supplemented with a hint of smoke and plenty of minerality. The palate is quite sweet (perhaps a BA-lite kind of level) but there is adequate acidity to hold that kind of intensity. A relatively thick texture, especially in comparison to the 1993 non-auction alongside.
#15-94, 8% abv. Most at the table preferred this bottle to the 1994 auction, but I was in the smaller group. This for me doesn't have the same intensity and power as the slightly younger wine, but hews much closer to the classic auslese style. It's a lighter wine, showing just a hint of petrol on the nose, and more herbal and floral elements. Very bright and incredibly fresh; for a neglected vintage, this shows amazingly well.
I think the two bottles of Ostertag suffered a little bit being consumed after the Haags. The difference made the weight of this wine stick out like a sore thumb. The nose shows some orange blossom and other green herbs, but also a distinct lychee component. On the palate, this shows quite oily and is very true to Alsace, but at the end of the day, it's too weighty for a riesling in my mind. I also didn't like the phenolic bitterness on the finish here, but I suspect that given some additional time, that component would have faded away.
I liked this a lot more than the 2017 of the same wine; I found this to be less forthright with the spicy perfume, and showing a little more minerality and fruit on the nose. The palate has lost some of the oiliness, and if there was the phenolic bitterness I found in the 2017 in this wine on release, it has indeed faded away. There's a really nice mineral cut overall here, and a smidgen more acidity to freshen this up.
#3096. From a bottle decanted the night before, which I think is the proper treatment for a wine like this. Incredibly beautiful perfume on the nose here, with the expected red fruits and roses all in abundance. It's a relatively demure expression of nebbiolo; this isn't an exuberant or loud wine, but everything is there sotto voce. Surprisingly ready for consumption now (given the decant) but I don't think there's any danger of this falling apart any time soon.
1995 Moët & Chandon Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon 90 Points
France, Champagne
From a bottle that was known to not have been stored well. But this bottle did indeed survive, and it ended up showing like a pretty classic bottle of Dom with those developed old funky reductive notes. Fairly mushroomy and nutty, with a pronounced autolytic character too. A hint sweet and quite browned. Better than drinkable, but not to my taste. With a lot of air, a little bit of something resembling TCA started to emerge, but I wonder if this was more of those aged reductive notes than anything.
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2006 Taittinger Champagne Comtes de Champagne Blanc de Blancs Brut 90 Points
France, Champagne
The more I have this, the more convinced I am that the 2007 is the better wine. While this is an amply good bottle of champagne, it doesn't quite have the electric excitement that the 2007 has; there isn't enough of the citric brightness and acidity here. In exchange, you get a little more of a darker complexion, with more nutty and mushroomy elements.
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2012 Pierre Gimonnet & Fils Champagne Special Club Grands Terroirs de Chardonnay 90 Points
France, Champagne
A little young in that you still get just a little bit of a white grape flavour here. The mousse is pretty vigorous and is just a slight bit coarse right now. Some tart citrus and orchard fruit; not too complex on the midpalate, but there's a pretty nice kick of chalky minerality on the finish.
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2016 Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay Art Series 93 Points
Australia, Western Australia, South West Australia, Margaret River
In terms of the slight reduction here, there's something that reminds me of Roulot in this wine. It's a little tropical and shows a nice array of sweeter tropical fruits, but at the same time, there is the requisite acidity to correctly frame this wine. Every time I taste a Leeuwin chardonnay, I have to ask myself why I don't buy them. I really should be...
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2013 Domaine Jean-Marc Pillot Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Vergers Clos Saint-Marc 90 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru
Overall, a little dilute in flavour, but this is a wine that speaks quite true to the village, with a slightly waxier, rounder texture. It's got good acidity and a nice dose of minerality too, but it's just that the flavour on the midpalate seems to be a bit dilute. Perhaps that's a function of the slightly weaker vintage? A decent bottle of chardonnay, but the value preposition is not entirely there.
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1989 Domaine Huet Vouvray Moelleux 1ère Trie Le Haut-Lieu 95 Points
France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray
It's not the Constance, but this is another in a long line of incredibly Huets from this vintage. The nose shows a little bit of earth and wooliness, but then you get to all the good things -- marmalade, brown sugar, peaches, in an fairly kaleidoscopic array. The palate is sweet and does have a slight syrupy/oily texture, but there's ample acidity to balance all that out. Very delicious, and only bettered by the Constance of the same vintage.
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2015 Domaine des Roches Neuves Saumur Blanc L'Echelier 88 Points
France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur
A few years ago, I liked these wines more; nowadays for my palate, they come off a little bit thin and lacking in breadth. This is fairly high acid and generally shows a little lean, with a slight bit of furry funk on the nose and palate. It's not the most approachable right now, with too much a spotlight on the acidity here.
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1994 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel Auction 95 Points
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#04-95, 7% abv. From half-bottle. This is a brilliant bottle of Haag and shows readily the hallmarks of this truly great vintage. Incredibly intense with its fruit and botrytis, supplemented with a hint of smoke and plenty of minerality. The palate is quite sweet (perhaps a BA-lite kind of level) but there is adequate acidity to hold that kind of intensity. A relatively thick texture, especially in comparison to the 1993 non-auction alongside.
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1993 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese Goldkapsel #15 95 Points
Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer
#15-94, 8% abv. Most at the table preferred this bottle to the 1994 auction, but I was in the smaller group. This for me doesn't have the same intensity and power as the slightly younger wine, but hews much closer to the classic auslese style. It's a lighter wine, showing just a hint of petrol on the nose, and more herbal and floral elements. Very bright and incredibly fresh; for a neglected vintage, this shows amazingly well.
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2017 Domaine Ostertag Riesling Muenchberg 88 Points
France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru
I think the two bottles of Ostertag suffered a little bit being consumed after the Haags. The difference made the weight of this wine stick out like a sore thumb. The nose shows some orange blossom and other green herbs, but also a distinct lychee component. On the palate, this shows quite oily and is very true to Alsace, but at the end of the day, it's too weighty for a riesling in my mind. I also didn't like the phenolic bitterness on the finish here, but I suspect that given some additional time, that component would have faded away.
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2012 Domaine Ostertag Riesling Muenchberg 90 Points
France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru
I liked this a lot more than the 2017 of the same wine; I found this to be less forthright with the spicy perfume, and showing a little more minerality and fruit on the nose. The palate has lost some of the oiliness, and if there was the phenolic bitterness I found in the 2017 in this wine on release, it has indeed faded away. There's a really nice mineral cut overall here, and a smidgen more acidity to freshen this up.
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2004 Giuseppe E Figlio Mascarello Barolo Monprivato 93 Points
Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo
#3096. From a bottle decanted the night before, which I think is the proper treatment for a wine like this. Incredibly beautiful perfume on the nose here, with the expected red fruits and roses all in abundance. It's a relatively demure expression of nebbiolo; this isn't an exuberant or loud wine, but everything is there sotto voce. Surprisingly ready for consumption now (given the decant) but I don't think there's any danger of this falling apart any time soon.
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